NOTHING TO STOP US NOW
■ More reasons to be hopeful than ever, says health chief ■ Dining back by summer, vows Leo ■ Major uptake of jab appointments as portal opens ■ We’re among best in Europe
HEALTH chiefs have been buoyed by the latest Covid-19 figures and have declared we’re on the home straight in our fight against the disease.
After a week of mixed fortunes, NPHET has hailed the improvement in our case numbers as ‘fantastic’ and said it would take a significant setback now to derail our summer reopening.
With Covid case numbers continuing to fall and a major uptake of vaccine appointments on the first day of a new online booking portal opening yesterday, Micheál Martin was equally upbeat on our progress.
Indeed, the Taoiseach signalled last night that the nation – which acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said is ahead of most European countries in terms of beating the virus – can anticipate a slew of reopenings by next month.
He said these will be announced in just two weeks’ time and that we can ‘look forward with some degree of confidence’ in the weeks ahead.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar earlier vowed that once our successes continue, hairdressers would open next month and both
indoor and outdoor dining could be a reality by the summer.
Mr Martin also reiterated the four key sectors under consideration for changes next month.
He told The Tonight Show on Virgin Media One: ‘We will look at a whole range of areas from May, in terms of non-essential retail, the full return of construction, religious services, non-contact sports, and others.’
Acting CMO Dr Glynn said declining Covid figures are ‘better than we could have hoped for’, while NPHET’s disease expert Professor Philip Nolan hailed ‘significant and positive improvements’ in suppressing the deadly virus, saying there was no surge after Easter and there had been a ‘genuine reduction in the number of cases’.
He said there would now have to be a ‘significant shock’ to the vaccination programme for it to derail our mass vaccination plans and, therefore, the roadmap out of lockdown.
Despite a number of setbacks this week with the AstraZeneca jab banned for those under 60, bar those who have had a first shot, and news that the J&J vaccine was halted, both as a result of blood clot side effects, Prof. Nolan said it was unlikely to have a significant impact on Ireland’s vaccine rollout.
Dr Glynn added: ‘It’s fantastic that we are where we are. We have come a huge distance, we do have a way to go, we have to stick with it, but it is very important that people hear and understand that their efforts have made an enormous difference and we have avoided very significant mortality.’
The Taoiseach last night said the public had ‘responded magnificently’ to the restrictions – acknowledging that they ‘the need a break’ as the Government looks at easing restrictions further.
And he didn’t rule out reviewing the national lockdown in favour of local and regional Covid restrictions.
He added that a winter booster vaccine may be needed at the end of the year to stave off a fourth wave, saying the EU is already making preparations with drug firms for that.
Meanwhile, the positive update from NPHET came after Mr Varadkar said Ireland is on course to lift more restrictions from May 4.
He said he is ‘increasingly confident’ that both indoor and outdoor dining will also return over the summer.
Dr Glynn said that far from triggering a spike, as had been feared in line with Christmas celebrations, the Covid numbers had actually fallen further over Easter and St Patrick’s Day.
Ireland’s reproductive rate currently is now between 0.7 and 1.
Dr Glynn said people were embracing the better weather and following advice to meet outdoors, and that the closure of offices during the holiday periods had also helped to keep contacts low. ‘This just shows you how far we have come as a country since February. We have continued on a very positive path,’ he said.
Eight additional deaths of people infected with Covid and 309 new cases were reported yesterday.
‘Indoor and outdoor dining possible’
‘If we were at the EU average we would be reporting between 1,500 and 1,600 cases this evening,’ Dr Glynn added. ‘We are among the best positioned in Europe in relation to this disease. Our 14-day incidence is lower than it has been at any point since Christmas time, and our numbers in ICU are better than they have been at any point in 2021.’
Earlier Mr Varadkar said Ireland is ‘on track’ to further ease restrictions – including the reopening of hairdressers next month.
The Fine Gael leader also said that travel throughout the European Union may happen ‘within months’ – as talks about a ‘green cert’ for fully vaccinated people are under way.
Echoing the Taoiseach’s claim that Pfizer’s booster vaccine delivery will keep Ireland on target to vaccinate 80% of adults by the end of June, the Tánaiste said he’s ‘confident’ the country is on the right course as hospital figures are at an all-year low.
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland: ‘For the first time this year, the number of people in hospital is below 200, the number in ICU below 50, cases are stable or falling, the Rnumber is below 1, kids are back to school, the 5km rules gone, we’re building houses again.
‘We are on track. We’re on track both to ease restrictions as planned from May 4 and to have over 80% of people receiving their first vaccine by the end of June.’
Mr Varadkar added: ‘If things keep going the way they’re going, we will see non-essential retail and personal services reopen on a staggered basis across the month of May.
‘We would expect to be in a position at the end of April to give an indication as to how hospitality could reopen across June and July. It is increasingly evident that outdoor dining is much safer than indoor, but hope to get to a point where both could be possible, and I’m increasingly confident that both could be possible across the course of summer.’
In another boost, there was no sign of vaccine hestitancy yesterday as thousands in the 65-69 age cohort registered on the HSE’s new vaccine portal to book their AstraZeneca jab appointments.
The opening of the portal saw 26,000 register to get jabs. Around 5% of these booked by phone using the HSE’s dedicated helpline.
Prof. Nolan said the success of the vaccination programme can be seen amongst healthcare workers and nursing home residents
He said there was now strong evidence of the protective effect of vaccination in healthcare staff who now account for just 2.5% of all Covid cases, down from 15% at the height of the second and third waves of the pandemic. Similarly, he said the proportion of nursing home residents with Covid compared with the rest of the population had fallen sharply, from 7% during the January wave to now just less than 0.5%.
The number of people in hospital with Covid is now below 200 for the first time since mid-December, and there’s been a sustained reduction in admissions in the past ten to 14 days. Prof. Nolan said the sevenday average stood at 400 cases, and the five-day average at 358, and that there had been a progressive fall in case counts in the last ten to 14 days. Dr Glynn said people’s ability to continue to keep their contacts low was the single most important determinant of what we will and will not be able to do through May, June and the rest of summer. ‘In broad terms we are still on track for where we hope to be by the end of June, particular with the positive disease profile in the last couple of weeks,’ he said.
Prof. Nolan said the acceleration in the vaccine distribution in the next few weeks was so large that even major changes would only have a modest effect on the overall rollout rate. However, he also cautioned that until a greater proportion of the population is vaccinated, ‘we remain in a positive but relatively high-risk situation’.